Could Not, Would Not
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one thousand and twenty-seven: He couldn't deny the first time he met Lucy he felt something.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 48th cycle. Now cycle 49!_

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**"Could Not, Would Not"  
Artie/Lucy (OC)  
Artie/Lucy series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_  
**

Neither of them would really remember the first time they met, the real one. He would remember the first time he saw her and she would remember the first time she saw him, but in both cases that was only as far as the moment they actually would enter the other's memories.

Artie first remembered her when they were in seventh grade, the first day. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail so high on her head that it spilled like a red fountain and held anyone's gaze that ever fell on it. Looking at that ponytail was more interesting than Mr. Cooper's English class.

Lucy had been made to notice the boy in the wheelchair because she hadn't realized that was who he was at first. They were in the cafeteria, in eighth grade, and she'd walked by just as an apple rolled into her path. She'd barely missed tripping on it, crouched to grab it, and when she'd stood back up, he was looking at her, sheepishly waving. She'd returned the apple and only as he moved away from his table she saw his chair.

That was what they remembered, but before apples and ponytails and any number of years being nothing but a face among many to one another, there had been one afternoon. On that afternoon, two eight-year-old kids sat in an empty school bus, sidelined from a field trip by weak stomachs. While their classmates were looping through rollercoasters, riding one ride after the other, the pair had left their lunches behind and for it had earned a return to the bus until it was time to leave.

Artie, weeks away from the accident that would take his ability to walk, would climb on the bus still shaky on his legs from being sick, only to find he wasn't alone. He could see a pair of green sneakers sticking out from one of the seats further down. As he sat, the cushion squeaked from under him. A moment later, a hand appeared on the seat ahead of the green sneakers, and a head of red hair around a pale face peered over.

"Hi…" the girl spoke.

"Hi," Artie repeated. "Did you get sick, too?" he asked, and she squirmed, nodding. "I don't always get sick," he promised, like she would think less of him if he did.

"Okay," the girl didn't seem to care.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"My head's not spinning anymore," was her way of answering. They sat in silence for a while, looking at one another, unsure what to do.

"How long until they come back?" he finally asked, not liking the silence. She shrugged.

"Not for a while," she told him. He was debating going back a couple rows to sit closer, but for some reason the thought of it made him nervous. He couldn't explain it, that was just how it was. But then he looked back and she'd gotten up, trailing up until she could sit on the seat across the aisle from him. She pushed herself so her legs were on the seat and her back was against the side of the bus… so he did the same. She smiled.

"You're not from my school, are you," he guessed, and she shook her head. The field trip was a joint outing between the two elementary schools. Someday they would all no doubt land at McKinley High, but for now they were split.

"I'm Lucy," she introduced herself.

"Artie," he told her, and she had a small laugh. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she promised. "I didn't want to come here," she frowned after a beat.

"Me either. My parents wouldn't let me skip it," he explained.

"Can I tell you a secret?" she kept her voice low even if they were alone. He nodded. "I'm scared of rollercoasters," she told him. "I mean really scared."

"They're not that bad," he promised. "You just have to get used to them," he shrugged.

"I can't… I didn't even make it on the ride, I just waited in line and then…" she mimed being sick. "What about you? If you're so good with them," she challenged.

"I had too much to eat, that's what they said," he revealed. "I really wanted to go. At least you got what you wanted."

"Yeah… great," she frowned. He sensed she didn't exactly agree with him, and he felt like he had to do something to make it alright again. He reached for his bag, dug his hand in until he found the ball inside. His mother had said not to bring it, so…

"Want to catch?" he asked. She looked around the confined area of the bus. He mistook her silence for hesitation. "I can show you…"

"I know how to catch a ball," she promised. "And throw one," she held up her hands, indicating she was ready to receive. He smiled, throwing it at her. She caught it, and she threw it back to him.

They continued throwing back and forth for a while. If the ball ever rolled or slipped out of their grasp, one of them would have to stand and go get it, which got easier as their energy returned with time.

When they heard the sound of people nearing, they looked up, and Lucy threw the ball back to Artie so he could put it away unseen. They would be split up as she was taken back to the other bus, and neither of them would think to exchange phone numbers, not that they would have been expected to.

By the time they would meet again, this moment would be long forgotten. But deep down they would remember something, a stranger…

THE END

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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